Friday, February 29, 2008

There's only one thing on tap this weekend for NorCal racers: Saturday's third installment of the CCCX XC series at Fort Ord (near Monterey, CA). With fine weather forecasted, there should be a big turnout. Stop by the CCCX website for details and start times.

For those of you itching for a roadtrip, here is the rest of the country's MTB racing weekend schedule:

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The Lake Sonoma Series Is Back! Rollercoaster fun at Liberty Glenn Campground for 2008. Sign up for all 6 races and knock off $20! This year Bike Monkey is hosting 7 races at Lake Sonoma. The April race is a NO-POINTS race that will cover a brand new 15-16 mile loop course and offer a $20 alternative to the Sea Otter madness on April 19th.

The only real change here is the August race, which was moved to August 16th so that it won't conflict with the Singlespeed World Championship. I will update all the races listed on the sidebar and over at MTB Calendar.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Overall results and photos from yesterday's MTB Challenge #2 have been posted. Although they haven't posted the division breakdown yet, it looks like Keith Defiebre (of CCCX fame) took the Expert Men's win.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

"Clothing manufacturer Pearl Izumi has been bought by Shimano American Corporation, the US wing of Shimano. Pearl Izumi, previously owned by Nautilus, Inc., will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shimano American but will be run independently and will continue to operate from its facilities in Broomfield, Colorado and Kirchzarten, Germany." (Via Shimano buys Pearl Izumi - BIKEmagic Gear News)

Friday, February 22, 2008

Sunday is MTB Challenge #2, the second installment in the early season XC warmup series. The course looks about the same (7 mile loop near the lake) but the weather up here in Granite Bay is quite simply not good. Expect temps in the low 40s and a lot of water on the course. The race is $50 (race day, cheaper for pre-registration) near Granite Bay, CA.

If you are looking a little further afield, MTB Calendar shows the following races around the country:

The first screenings of "Seasons" will take place in Whistler, B.C. and Monterey, California in April. The Whistler show is scheduled for Friday April 11th at the Whistler Conference Center and the Monterey show is on Friday April 18th at the Portola Hotel as part of the Sea Otter Classic. The "Seasons World Tour" is in the works and will start shortly after the Monterey premiere.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Although this isn't MTB related, I guess since the Tour of California is still on...

On February 13th, the Amaury Sports Organization (ASO) barred Team Astana from competing in any race or event organized by the ASO in 2008. The ASO owns premiere cycling events like Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix, Paris-Tours, and the famed Tour de France.“When I saw the Tour de France on TV when I was young,” laments Leipheimer, “I knew that someday I wanted to do that race. I sacrificed my life to participate. After finishing on the podium last year I want to do even better. Now I’m a victim of an illogical decision and have been excluded from the race."

Help put Levi’s dreams back on track by signing the petition to Let Levi Ride. Petitions will be sent directly to Christian Prudhomme, Director of the ASO, as well as to VS, the official US media partner of the Tour de France.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Team Spatdog has announced the 2008 Tour De Granite for August 2nd, 2008 near Fresno, CA. And it looks like there are changes this year. The course is described as "9.5 mile circuit course, starting and ending at Markwood Meadows. Fast descents, steep single track, granite climbs, 1600ft Elevation gain per lap, creek crossing, steep granite hike." This sounds a bit tougher than last year.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Thought this was appropriate since the Tour of California is racing through Sacto today:

"The next Tour de France is still five months away, but the 2008 pro cycling calendar is already in full swing. The week-long Amgen Tour of California, one of the first big races of the year, is currently making its way down the Golden State's coast. You can catch nightly coverage of the bike race on the cable network Versus, or you can follow along online using some very cool Adobe technology.

The Adobe TourTracker is a Flash-based multimedia feast. You get a big window showing the action in Flash video (like Kelly Benefits' Jonathan Sundt taking a solo flyer on the rainy roads of stage 2 as he tries to catch BMC's Scott Nydam, shown above) with the ability to switch between two camera angles on the fly. You also get a text feed for updates, overhead and elevation maps of the route and the ability to track the locations of any of the 136 riders on the roads."

I found a awhile back that Karl Rogne, a pro rider from Go Ride, has cancer...Quick background. A group of us were riding late last november on a section of trail we all knew pretty well. Karl went pinning it into a section he'd ridden many times before but with the ground frozen and being a lot faster than normal got caught up over the front of his bike and faceplanted HARD. He broke his jaw, his right arm and tore up his face pretty badly. When doing some scans on his spine to check for any other damage, the radiologist noticed what turned out to be lymphoma around his heart. A few biopsies later, revealed early stage 2 non-hodgkins growth.........just in time for the holiday season .... He's been getting chemo at stanford once a month (two treatments now) which is essentially just an IV drip. He's rocking the mandatory mr clean hairdo and his energy levels are in the toilet. He's a great guy with one of the most positive attitudes on life I've ever met. You can hear the sincerity in his voice that there's no doubt he's going to beat this but with the medical insurance 'system' in this country being what it is, the financial side of this will kill him before any disease will. Again......he HAS insurance. This isn't the guy who doesn't cover his ass when going out racing professionally.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

"I am sorry to announce that our traditional Spring Gravity Series will not run this year. Too many factors have come together to make it too difficult for us to run a quality series ... We will still be open for regular weekend practice from 10 am to 5 pm. Perhaps we can set up the starting gate and timing system on a few of those practice days so that you guys can practice your starts before Sea Otter. (I'll start to work on this, stay tuned.) " (Via Sand Hill Racing)

Friday, February 15, 2008

Saturday is CXSR08 (Cyclocross Santa Rosa) at Dan Galvin Park in Santa Rosa (North Bay). For those of you not down with the CX, Cyclocross is similar to MTB Short Track except it has 200% more cowbell. 1.5 mile (or so) dirt and grass course with a time limit (usually around 45 minutes or so). The rider with the most laps is the winner. Oh, and there are obstacles. It's probably easier to watch this video. If you are still interested, you can ride your MTB XC bike. It's only $15, how can you go wrong?

It will be a cross-country mountain bike race of approximately 15 - 20 (difficult) miles at Lake Sonoma. This will NOT be the normal Billy-X course, but will incorporate parts of it, as well as some NEW stuff that we've built out there over the past year. Expect to hurt, and then drink beer and eat! All included. Entry fee will be around $30 (or less).

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Rainbow Ridge is usually the first race in the Nevada Cup XC series and FT&B is an Enduro. I don't see their sites updated with details yet, but I post something when I do. For last year's information on Nor Nevada races, check the archives.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

"Due to complications working with the State of California, the Mammoth Bar Downhill Series will be cancelled this year. There were challenges persuading the State to provide us with the necessary accomodations." (Via Global BioRythm Events)

There is a bit of a silver lining to this:

"We are trying to move the three dates to three cross country races. More information in the weeks to come." (MTBR Thread)

"For IMBA, Niner will paint 25 M.C.R. 9 frames and matching Reynolds rigid forks with an ‘IMBA’ themed paint job. What is an IMBA themed paint job? That’s where you come in. Niner is asking you, the riders, to submit what you think an IMBA themed paint job is. The possibilities are endless; the only rule is that somewhere, somehow, the IMBA logo be used in the paint scheme. To enter the contest, go to www.ninerbikes.com, read the rules and use the M.C.R. 9 frame and fork template to create an ‘IMBA’ themed paint scheme. The winner will win one of the limited edition frame and fork combos and see their artwork painted onto 25 more frames. The winner will be announced on February 29th, 2008." (Via Niner Bikes)

I bet we see some cool design come from this. Submissions are due by February 26th.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

The races are back March 22nd! 2008 Is already a blur. It's going to be mid February in one week, and already the 2008 Lake Sonoma Series is fast-approaching!

The first race of the series starts on March 22nd - month early. Why? Because we're hosting an alternative cross country mountain bike race on Sea Otter weekend for folks who don't want to blow their race wad on one weekend.

To keep it interesting, and to avoid cutting into the series contention for folks who DO want to go race Sea Otter, we're going to host a debut Cross Country "Classic" event at Lake Sonoma that will include at least a 16 mile loop of very difficult terrain - all naturally followed up with beer and burgers. Bring the kids!

I'm a little torn where I might be racing this weekend. With the nice weather it seems wrong to spend 6+ hours in the car driving, but I wouldn't mind catching the CCCX opener... More of the upcoming nationwide MTB schedule can be found over on MTB Calendar.

The NAHBS is this weekend up in Portland, OR. What is the NAHBS you ask ?

Having started with 23 exhibitors in Houston, Texas, in 2005, the North American Handmade Bicycle Show is dedicated to showcasing the talents of individuals around the world whose art form is the bicycle. It aims to be a gathering point -- online and in person -- for framebuilders and consumers looking for custom-made bikes, for the sharing of ideas and promotion of this industry and its traditions. This year's event features 155 exhibitors and will draw over 4,000 people to the Portland, Oregon Convention Center.

This is a cyclocross race, but there is a MTB contest and you can ride your XC bike in the race, so I am posting it here:

CXSR08Bike Monkey is giving away a brand new cyclocross bike to the fastest lap on a Mountain Bike in the B-class race of its first ever cyclocross event in Santa Rosa, CA! There will be BEER, RACING, LIVE ROCK MUSIC, and a HECKLING CONTEST! Kona and many bike shops will be raffling off prizes and showing off last year's cyclocross inventory. Come out for a mud-fest party!!

The race will be held at Dan Galvin Park in Santa Rosa, CA on February 16th, 2008. Registration is $15, $10 for Juniors, and $3 for kids.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Racing news from New Zealand (my sometimes workplace) with a NorCal twist:

"Weir traveled to New Zealand to race a 6hr chair lift Super D race called the Brake Burner. Very cool idea behind a unique Super D race that we could easily see becoming more popular. Weir claimed 2nd place at the race behind Geoff Small.It’s not often Weir doesn’t win a Super D race and Vorb has got a cool interview up as well that is definitely worth checking out with Weir about the race and more. Additionally, there’s a helmet cam video on Vorb as well showing some of the terrain."(Via Sicklines.com)

If you ever find yourself in Queenstown, you owe it to yourself to rent a bike.

This is some great scheduling as it fits right in the June "gap" in the schedule. The races are described as "The NEW TBF Friday Night Mountain Bike Racing Series will offer a fast fun course for an exciting Friday Night of single track riding and racing. The 6 mile course will feature terrain fun for all levels of riders: from new to the sport to advanced riders, with one, two or three lap options." Races will start at 6pm and run until the 8pm awards. The races appear to be $20 per rider. As with the MTB Challenge series, races will be held in Granite Bay, CA (near Sacramento).